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When I started this blog in 2008 I would’ve never written about film. I’m the first to admit that I know nothing about the film industry, aside from what I’ve learnt flicking through Little White Lies magazine. It just eludes me. However, as we move into 2014 it’s impossible for me to ignore the prevalence, and importance, of the ‘fashion film’.

The theme of this year’s Costume Society study day was “Shooting Style: Fashion on Screen”. Both Nathaniel Beard and Pamela Church Gibson emphasised the importance of this medium. Nathanial presented footage of early fashion films, whereas Pamela gave an overview of its evolution and current examples. (My friend Lori tweeted throughout the conference, and put together this brilliant Storify thread of the day).

On November 10, fashions finest gathered at New York’s glamorous Waldorf Astoria for the Global Fashion Awards 2010. Hosted by WGSN, the world’s leading style and trend forecaster (and my lovely ex-employers), the Awards are the first of their kind to honour style and innovation in the fashion industry on a global platform.

Receiving a significant amount of attention for his award, Alber Elbaz, who has recently revealed the collection designed in collaboration with H&M, took home the Most Influential Designer prize. The Lanvin designer, who has also worked at Yves Saint Laurent, beat off fierce competition from Christopher Bailey, Phoebe Philo and Isabel Marant.

Although Elbaz couldn’t attend the ceremony in person he did offer his take on the Lanvin customer: “Tomorrow’s It-girl could be tomorrow’s Out-girl,” he says, describing why Lanvin isn’t about trends but about making women feel magical.

Other winners include Thom Brown who won Most Influential Menswear Designer, Harvey Nichols who beat Topshop for Beat Global Retailer. Acne won Most Influential Design Team and People Tree scooped the Most Influential Fashion Label accolade.

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Confirming the collaboration with high-street brand H&M, Lanvin’s artistic director Alber Elbaz and head of menswear, Lucas Ossendrijver have agreed to design a range that will arrive in stores 23 November.

Elbaz said, “H&M approached us to collaborate, and to see if we could translate the dream we created at Lanvin to a wider audience, not just a dress for less,” he said, “I have said in the past that I would never do a mass-market collection, but what intrigued me was the idea of H&M going luxury rather than Lanvin going public. This has been an exceptional exercise, where two companies at opposite poles can work together because we share the same philosophy of bringing joy and beauty to men and women around the world.”

If you’ve been shopping recently you can see the effects of Balmania everywhere, you can’t move for a shoulder pad and those sequin body-con dresses are sitting tight in every high street window. Having carved such a strong and signature look for the last two seasons, where was Decarnin going to go next?

“It’s warrior women and the military with a mix of different times and a touch of Mad Max,” the designer told the International Herald Tribune, concisely summing up the metal mesh dresses, medallion-dotted military blazers, vests and T-shirts with rips and holes in them as though the models had been caught in a crossfire, and sequin carnage camouflage overlays.

I couldn’t help thinking though that Balmain were paying homage to themselves by creating a collection similar to the last two popular seasons; we’ve already seen the military jacket’s and the studded dresses. Obviously, I thought this collection was amazing, I think Balmain are amazing, but perhaps this was just because I’d already seen and adored this collection twice before.

Hilary Alexander wrote of Chalayan’s collection: “Navy and white were key in a collection which evoked the Côte d’Azur of the Fifties”. I felt this best summerised a collection which was made for some resort in Deauville or Havana, or any other playground of the rich and idle in the Fifties.

Accompanied by the Italian rumba band, Farniente (which translates to “doing nothing”), Chalayan proceeded to describe the meaning behind each outfit, his concept was the fact that idleness has replaced the ancient tenets of a religious society, I don’t really agree but each to their own andHussein Chalayan is amazing.

The collection itself began with tailored short suits which had dramatically cutaway sides, and were accessorised with swimming hats and sci-fi sunglasses propped on top like goggles. There was black or white column dresses with circles cut out of the back, which had a sophisticated elegance, and came with wide-brimmed matching hats.

The beautiful jersey dresses had wide, shiny belts and high leg splits and seemed more Chalayan-esque, especially when they featured fake pointed (removable), breasts beneath. Blue and white striped versions had Riviera elegance but then neoprene jackets and bodices with floaty chiffon sleeves and floor-length skirts were a consummate example of Chalayan’s combination of scientific interest with his designer vision.

White goddess gowns, in stretch jersey, featured hands in fabric or plastic, clasping the halter-neck straps, perhaps underlying the grip materialism has on life in the 21st century.

Lanvin

Alber Elbaz presented, what must surely be, his finest collection with what he calls the “new minimalist” look.

The show opened with a black dress boasting a huge ruffle around one shoulder and cinched in at the waist, this was followed by beautifully shaped Tuxedo dresses that were styled with a single black glove. Strapless minis were drawn in at the back to produce a vertical spine of fabric, while taffeta dresses of red and rose pink had a single puffed shoulder and fell in plump swathes from nude under slips. However, nude and black silk dresses and jump suits were the most elegant, single-shouldered offerings of all.

The finale of heavily embellished jumpsuits and dresses (and one show-stopping pair of liquid gold trousers) was an appropriate celebratory end to a show that celebrated a sophisticated female form.

Louis Vuitton

Marc Jacob’s geek chic collection for Louis Vuitton was a melting pot of travellers, hikers, skate kids, dolls and cartoons, with an overall sporty mix of cycling shorts, backpacks and bum bags. Girl after girl travelled down the catwalk wearing gigantic fluffy afro wigs of every colour but throughout the course of this ugly duckling show, the models slowly transformed into enviably sassy and totally original stylistic statements: unconventionally, uniquely cool.

I did like this collection but I think it was just too busy for me, I like my designs to be sleek and the clash of so many colours made it hard for me to actually see the designs, hey, I like my colours to be basic.

Little mini dresses (everything came above the knee) were made with panels of sparkly pink, green or blue brocades. Strips of denim there were tasseled and beaded to match the fur and bauble-strewn accessories of the huge rucksack bags and sandals they were worn with.

Sporty white mesh dresses were woven with neon laces or blue tie-dyed ribbons, with a touch of lamé in gorgeous cropped jackets, with drawstring waistbands or glittering hot pant-aloons, added glamour.
Vogue wrote that they were “pleased to see a younger Vuitton girl after the sex kittens of autumn/winter and the tribal-inspired glamazons of spring/summer 2009, it made us start gossiping immediately about who he’s planning to pick for the ad campaign.

Mui Mui

Fashion may well be fascinated with all things Eighties right now but Miuccia Prada has her sartorial interests vested in the Seventies which, today, proved part inspiration for the designer’s Mui Mui collection.

“It is fresh – about how innocence can survive in this world,” explained the designer to the International Herald Tribune. And so cat, daisy, puppy and swallow prints playfully adorned super-cropped jackets and boleros that barely covered breasts beneath (though the models were wearing shirts of contrasting cute print), narrow-leg trousers stopping just shy of the ankles – which were gripped with golden daisy or raspberry bird print boots – and sweet pleated school skirts. The palette was of midnight magic in soft shades of pale lilac, pink, black, indigo and later tan, beige and gold.

There was something youthful and innocent about this collection; Jean Shrimpton lashes and long tousled braided hair made for Miu Miu’s Lolita girls, who stepped out in beautifully high and stacked platform Mary Janes in golden yellow, baby blue and bright cerise.

Sonia Rykiel

Last week fashion was busy getting excited over the prospect of Sonia Rykiel bringing her sassy Parisian chic to the shores of Britain via a new collaboration with high street giant H&M, this week the industry is excited by the prospect of Rykiel’s spring/ summer 2010 collection.

Models danced, yes danced, their way down the catwalk in long length padded gilets, belted at the waist, transforming them into the chicest of outdoor attire; in sheer black stockings andquilted turquoise brassieres with matching French knickers and sugarplum pink sheer shirts.

They pranced in bobbly woven cardigans and in neat little blazer and skirt suits; in dinky striped tops in shades of yellow and blue and cerise; and in transparent shiny macs with emblazoned “SR” bodies beneath.

And they jived in silky pajama suits splashed in cornflower blue; star-dotted sheer chemises (that showed off big knickers beneath), gathered at the waist and cut away at the cleavage; and Forties tea dresses with falling flowers wafting about their skirts.